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FALL CREEK CEMETERY ASSOCIATION, INC. RULES AND REGULATIONS

(as amended on September 30, 2011)

A. Purpose

This revision supersedes all previous versions of the Rules and Regulations and all amendments thereto. These Rules and Regulations, hereinafter referred to as the Rules, are designed for the protection of persons assigned interment rights. The Rules are intended not as restraining, but as preventing, the inconsiderate from taking unfair advantage of others. The enforcement of the Rules will help protect the cemetery and create and preserve its beauty.

B. Definitions

Cemetery – The Fall Creek Cemetery.

Association – The Fall Creek Cemetery Association Inc. of Spicewood, Texas as described in Section 1 of Article 1 of the By-Laws, including its Directors, Officers and Members.

Person – An individual of the human race; a human being.

Director – A member of the Board of Directors of the Association, as provided for in the By-Laws, Article IV, Section 1.

Officer – The President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer of the Association which are elected from the Board of Directors by members of the Association, as provided for in the By-Laws.

Member – A person who has or is purchasing a plot in the cemetery or has been assigned a plot in the cemetery, and who is 18 years or older, as provided for in the By-Laws.

Owner – A person who has purchased, or is purchasing, interment rights in the cemetery.

Interment – The burial of a person’s remains (including cremated remains) in the cemetery.

Interee – A person of any age assigned to a plot in the cemetery.

Plot – A space designated in the cemetery for the interment of a single person.

Grave – A plot where a person has been interred.

Memorial – A marker placed on a grave to identify, and/or in remembrance of, the interee.

C. Amendments to the Rules

The Directors may, without notice, modify any part of these Rules when, in their judgment, amendments are needed, as provided for in the By-Laws. Amendments to these Rules shall be approved by a majority vote of the Members attending a meeting of the Association.

D. Individual Exceptions to the Rules

Individual exceptions, such as for hardship, can be made to any Rule when approved by the President and one other Director, except as stipulated otherwise in these Rules. Such individual exceptions do not affect the enforcement of the Rule in any other circumstance.

E. General Rules

Obedience of Rules – The Directors have the right to compel all persons in the cemetery to obey the Rules.

Alcoholic Beverages are Prohibited – Alcoholic beverages are prohibited within the cemetery.

Hunting and Firearms are Forbidden – Hunting, and the discharge of firearms except as part of funeral services to honor the deceased, are forbidden in the cemetery. Firearms are also prohibited within the cemetery except as allowed for use in the conduct of a funeral, or for those holding a legal permit to carry a firearm.

Disruptive or Destructive Behavior – No person will be permitted to exhibit disruptive behavior, including the use of profane language, within the cemetery. Persons are forbidden to injure vegetation or to break or mar any landmark, memorial, or other construct in the cemetery. All persons are reminded that the cemetery is devoted to the burial of the dead, and that the provisions and penalties of the law will be strictly enforced in all cases of injury or destruction of, or disruptive behavior within, the cemetery.

Theft and Damage – The Association is not responsible for the theft of, or damage to, items placed on or near plots or graves.

Changes of the Cemetery Grounds – The enlargement, reduction, replatting, grading and/or changes of the boundary of the cemetery shall be recommended by the Officers and approved by a majority vote of the members present at a called meeting of the Association, as provided for in the By-Laws.

Operation of Motor Vehicles and Parking – No person shall operate a motor vehicle within the cemetery except over a roadway open for vehicular traffic. The vehicle shall not be parked so as to obstruct any path or driveway within the cemetery grounds. No person shall use the cemetery grounds or any cemetery driveway as a thoroughfare, or shall operate a motor vehicle within the cemetery except to conduct cemetery business or to visit a gravesite.

F. Cemetery Maintenance

Removal of Objectionable Items - The Directors have the authority to remove any objectionable items or plantings placed in the cemetery contrary to the Rules.

Cemetery Work Day – The Directors, Officers and Members will conduct one cemetery work day on the last Saturday in September, starting at 10:00 AM.

G. Interment Rights

Qualification Rules for Interment Rights – To be qualified for burial in the cemetery, the person must meet one of the following three qualifications:

Grandfather Clause – The spouse of a person buried prior to the incorporation of the cemetery (August, 1987) is qualified to be buried in the cemetery and will not be charged an interment fee.

Spicewood, Texas Resident – The person has been a resident of Spicewood, Texas for at least five consecutive years. The boundaries of Spicewood are as shown on the map attached as Attachment 1
Spicewood Boundary Map which is hereby made a part of these Rules by reference.

Immediate Family Member – The person must have an immediate family member who has been assigned a plot in the cemetery under one or more of these three qualification rules and not through an exception to the three rules. An immediate family member is defined as a spouse, child, mother, father, brother or sister of the person seeking qualification.

Exception to the Qualification Rules for Interment Rights – The Cemetery is intended for the burial of Spicewood residents and their immediate families. However, in rare occasions, circumstances may call for an exception to the interment requirements. The President in conjunction with two other Directors can, at their discretion, approve the qualification of a person for interment rights who does not meet any of the three qualification rules. The exception will accrue only to that person and his/her spouse. Approval of any exception will not bind or require the Directors to approve a similar exception in another case. Each exception, with its justification and the names of those Directors approving the exception, will be reported to the Members at the next meeting of the Association and be recorded in the minutes.

H. Plot Purchase and Assignment Procedures and Rules

Owner Qualifications - The Owner(s) of a plot do not need to meet the interment qualifications. Only the person designated as an interee need be qualified.

Platted Plots Only -Any plot being purchased must be a numbered plot on the cemetery plat. Unplatted areas of the cemetery shall not be sold.

Purchase Agreement - A purchase agreement is to be executed at the time of purchase. The agreement will specify the person or persons responsible for payment, i.e. the Owner(s), which plots are being purchased, the cost of each plot, and the full name of the intended interee for each plot. Each interee must meet one of the interment qualifications, or have been approved for an exception to the qualifications, as described in these Rules. The purchase agreement will be signed by each Owner having responsibility for payment, and the President and the Secretary-Treasurer.

Cost, Payment, and Certificates of Interment - The cost of each plot is $500. A minimum $50 down payment will be made by the Owner(s) to the Secretary-Treasurer at the time of purchase. The Owner(s) will thereafter make a payment of a minimum of $25 per month to the Secretary-Treasurer until the total amount due under the purchase agreement has been paid. Once the purchase agreement has been fully paid, a Certificate of Interment will be issued to the Owner(s) listing each plot purchased and the name of the person to be interred in each plot. The Certificate of Interment will be signed by the President and the Secretary-Treasurer. A plot must be referenced in a Certificate of Interment prior to burial in the plot.

Interim Certificate of Interment - Where a purchase agreement involves multiple plots, the President and the Secretary-Treasurer, with the agreement of the Owner(s), may elect to issue a separate Certificate of Interment for a particular plot during the payment period once sufficient payment has been received for the plot. At the time of issuance of the certificate, the Owner shall select which plot is to be assigned to the certificate and verify the interee. If the purchase agreement is later terminated, interim certificates issued shall remain in full force.

Termination of Purchase Agreement for Non-payment - If the Owner(s) miss two or more consecutive payments, the Secretary-Treasurer will send a notice to the Owner(s), in writing by certified mail, signed by the Secretary-Treasurer, that payments must be brought current within 60 days of the date of the notice or the purchase agreement will be terminated. Termination of a purchase agreement must be approved by the President and the Secretary-Treasurer. Upon termination, the Owner(s) will be advised in writing by certified mail, signed by the President and the Secretary-Treasurer. No refund of payments will be made to the Owner(s). Plots being purchased under a terminated purchase agreement, not already assigned to a Certificate of Interment, will be available for resale.

Termination of Purchase Agreement by the Parties Involved -The purchase agreement can be terminated at any time prior to full payment by the concurrence of all parties to the purchase. A termination agreement will be developed and signed by each Owner and the President and the Secretary-Treasurer. No refund of payments will be made to the Owner(s). Plots being purchased under the purchase agreement, and not already assigned to a Certificate of Interment, will be available for resale.

Modifications to Purchase Agreements and Certificates of Interment – Modifications to a purchase agreement or Certificate of Interment must be signed by the Owner(s), the President, and the Secretary- Treasurer.

I. Rights and Limitations of Rights of Plot Owners

Change of Interee - The Owner(s) can change the assigned interee of a plot as long as the new interee meets one of the qualifications for interment rights or has been approved for an exception to the qualifications. A change to the interee assigned to a plot must be approved by the President and Secretary-Treasurer who will verify qualification. At the time the change is approved, the President and Secretary-Treasurer will issue a revised purchase agreement or Certificate of Interment, as appropriate, to the Owner(s) assigning the new interee to the plot.

Resale or Reassignment of Plot Ownership – Neither an Owner nor an Interee can sell, or assign ownership of, plots to another party. Only the Directors can sell plots in the cemetery, and must approve all plot assignments.

J. Rules Relating to Plots, Graves and Interment

Fencing and Curbing of Plots and Graves – No fences, curbing or other demarcations of a grave, plots or blocks of plots will be allowed after adoption of these Rules. Such demarcations existing prior to this adoption of the Rules will be allowed to remain.

Excavation and Closing of Graves – The funeral home conducting the interment, herein referred to as the funeral home, shall provide, to a cemetery Director, at least a twenty-four-hour notice prior to the excavation of a gravesite. At that time, the Funeral Home shall notify the Director of the name of the person to be interred. No plot will be excavated until the Director has verified ownership of the plot and the intended interee’s qualifications, insured that the plot is fully paid and a Certificate of Interment has been issued, and has staked out the boundaries of the plot and clearly marked the plot with the interee’s name. The excavation and closing of a grave shall be the responsibility of the funeral home conducting the interment. The funeral home shall bear all costs of the excavation and closing of the grave. The funeral home shall hold the Association harmless and indemnify the Association from any claim or action, including all costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, which arise from damage to the grave site, surrounding grave sites, monuments, foundations, and memorials during grave excavation, the funeral ceremony, and the closing of the grave. Sufficient material must be placed over the closed grave to account for future subsidence. If this material proves insufficient to control subsidence, it is the responsibility of the funeral home to provide additional material.

Installation of Permanent Memorials – Permanent memorials are to be installed within two years after interment. Temporary memorials are to be removed by the Owner(s) or family of the deceased at the time the permanent memorial is installed. All memorials shall be set on uniform lines within the boundary of the plot, conforming to the recorded survey plat of the cemetery.

Installation of Other Structures in the Cemetery – Structures, such as benches, placed on the cemetery grounds must be approved by the President prior to placement. The placement must not interfere with access to the cemetery or any plot.

Planting of Vegetation – Prior permission of the President is required before the planting of any vegetation within the cemetery.

K. Rules Relating to Procurements Made by the Association

Duties of the Secretary-Treasurer, in the By-Laws, Relating to Procurements – In accordance with the By-Laws, the Secretary-Treasurer is the custodian of all monies and things of value belonging to the Association. Furthermore, in accordance with the By-Laws all checks and withdrawals from the Association bank account must be signed by either the Secretary-Treasurer or President.

Procurements of $500 or Less – Any Officer may procure needed services or materials (except equipment) for the Association without prior approval if the total cost is $500 or less. To be reimbursed, the Officer must submit a receipt of the purchase to the Secretary-Treasurer or President, who will issue the Officer a check drawn on the Association bank account in the amount spent. The Secretary-Treasurer and President cannot reimburse themselves. A procurement cannot be broken into several separate procurements to meet this Rule.

Procurements Over $500 – Procurements of non-consumable items (as defined in Equipment below) over $500 must be approved in advance by both the President and the Secretary-Treasurer. If procuring a service, at least two bids should be taken from valid providers of the service

L. Rules Relating to Equipment Owned by the Association

Equipment – Equipment is defined as any device that is non-consumable (i.e. has a useful life of more than one year and is not expended when used).

Inventory, Maintenance, and Safe-keeping – All equipment owned by the Association will be maintained in good working order and kept in a safe location approved by the President and Secretary-Treasurer. The Secretary-Treasurer will maintain an inventory list of the equipment with serial numbers if available, and will conduct an annual sight inventory of all equipment, reporting on its condition at the regular annual meeting.

Equipment Use – Equipment owned by the Association will be used only for projects relating to Association business.

M. Regular Annual Meeting

The regular annual meeting of the Association will be held on Saturday, in the third weekend in October, at 10:00 AM at the Spicewood Community Center. A notice will be posted in a local newspaper by the Secretary-Treasurer at least twenty (20) days prior to the meeting. In addition to the newspaper posting, other methods, such as mail or email, may be used to notify the membership of the meeting. Lunch will be served at the meeting.

N. Adoption of Rules

These Rules are hereby adopted on October 15, 2011 by Members of the Fall Creek Cemetery Association. Members, Directors, Officers, persons having interment rights, owners, visitors, and contractors performing work within the cemetery, are subject to these Rules and any amendments to the Rules.